Jennifer comes to visit

Jennifer is still in London doing another Masters degree and had a 3 week project in China, so she came by Korea to see me a week in advance (yey!). She took me to a nice seafood restaurant and we hit a club.

Club Answer is in Cheongdam. At this point I should metion the 3 main areas for the fashionable trendy folk hang out are Apgujeong, Gangnam & Cheongdam (also full of many weekend millionaires but mostly ppl who try too hard to be cool, which in turn is not only plastic.. but very funny to see)... so why do I go here? Well the venues are really nice and clean, there is always room to mingle and dance, the people are good looking and because the prices are pretty high for by Korean standards, it keeps the 'shit' away. The downside is many people stand around clapping their hands for 4hrs whilst standing around commenting on everyone else. But hey, my feet don't stick to the floor, the bathrooms are clean and my drinks are well made.

So Happy in Paris? Michaël Canitrot @ Club ANSWER, Cheongdam.

So Happy in Paris? Michaël Canitrot @ Club ANSWER, Cheongdam.

Socialising has been somewhat of a dilemma for me in Korea. Before I came here, most of my friends I spent time with in England were korean and most of my friends here are korean. But 99% of them are still fairly conservative compared to westerners, which means although they like to go out and party until 6am... they are not able to carry the same crazy energy im used to experiencing back in Europe.

To solve this problem, I can head out with my american friends, who really do know the difference between simply jumping up and down, screaming until the early hours and ACTUALLY bringing their own personal energy out with them. To do this I would generally have to go to Hongdae though. Hongdae hosts the biggest and best design school in Korea (i teach some of the students there) so they are usually not living at home and can be pretty rowdy/crazy... so they have a lot more to offer in terms of energy than the more trendy parts of town. I used to go to Hongdae a lot when I first came here because there were many foreigners there and was just easier... and if u want to get wasted for little money, its the best place to be (although there are some very nice, but hidden bars, cafes & eateries). Problem with Hongdae is:

a) its full of students

b) its pretty cheap (quality), no room to dance, toilets are diguisting, feet stick to floor, sweaty beyond belief by just standing there.

So then why don't I just go to these trendy/cool places with my foreign friends?

Well, quite simply, they refuse to pay $30 to get into a club.... or $15 for a drink. I don't earn a lot of money in korea by any stretch but most of my foreign friends clear $2000 minimum each month, living in korea is not expensive.... thus i spend it all on partying and travel!

So Happy in Paris? Michaël Canitrot @ Club ANSWER, Cheongdam.

So Happy in Paris? Michaël Canitrot @ Club ANSWER, Cheongdam.

I tend to roam around wherever I please in Seoul as im often mistaken as someone famous.

CS'ers in Seoul

Many of you may not know, but I do a fair amount of 'couchsurfing', which is either hosting a stranger who is visiting Seoul or when I travel I could also search for a couch (i only host atm), so far iv'e hosted 2 couples from the US, a girl from Egypt and a guy from Japan. Dave is from Jamaica and teaches in Japan so i didnt want to pass up the chance of uniting with a fellow Jamaican (and for my Seoulites who are still confused-my parents are from the Caribbean... not Africa).

Dave also met another CSer, Julia lives in Korea... she is half Korean, half Japanese.... but doesn't use her japanese in Korea (for obvious reasons) and her attitude is very free and very refreshing, which stands out from the conservative nature of the average korean girl (more about that later!).

We went for dinner and coffee in Gangnam (one of my 3 favorite areas in Seoul). There aren't many foreigners here (except the main street), so it still feels authetic but in a modern and fashionable way.